Julian is located just a bit more than an hour’s drive from San Diego and is famous for its apples, Gold Rush Days and an abundance of the county’s bed and breakfast inns.
Spectacular, luxury real estate getaways — not so much.
James Shultz, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, said he and his partner, Irene Chandler, stumbled on a “kind of niche market” in Julian some 15 years ago.
“We got a call from a retired broker for Coldwell Banker who owned a 20-acre property in the north peak area of Julian,” Shultz said. “He mentioned that one of his neighbors was building a spec house and he wanted us to interview him about getting the listing on it.”
The team landed the listing and within a few weeks another client, whose home in La Jolla they had just put in escrow, mentioned they also had a home in Julian they wanted to sell.
“It sold very quickly,” Shultz said. “And we thought, ‘This is very interesting, let’s look into it.’”
Shultz said after a title search of homes of more than $1 million in Julian, they noticed the properties were predominantly owned by residents of La Jolla, with some in Del Mar and Coronado.
“And we went OMG, we know them, we know them, we know them,” Shultz said. “It turns out that an awful lot of people in La Jolla have weekend getaways in Julian.”
Their current listing is at 3605 Daley Flat Road in the Hoskings Ranch development. It’s a sprawling New England-style home on 41 acres with 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains, valleys and ranches. The five bedroom estate is 5,677 square feet, seven bathrooms and a separate guest house. It sold recently and is scheduled to close escrow shortly. The asking price was $1.7 million.
Shultz and Chandler have made a business out of selling luxury estates in Julian. In addition to the Daley Flat Road property, they have another one in Julian that closed last week and are “listing another big one” the following week.
“It’s a small part of our business,” he said. “But it’s a very fun part, and we really enjoy doing it.”
There are only 45 homes for sale in all price ranges in Julian at the moment. Of those 45, only seven are priced above $975,000.
It is a niche market indeed, but given that the population in the 2010 census was only about 1,500 (down from 1,621 a decade ago) it is fairly robust for what is primarily a second-home market.
Melissa Russell, a Realtor with Willis Allen Real Estate since 2005, has a listing on a luxury getaway at 4554 Boulder Creek Road.
“It’s a wonderful serene hideaway retreat,” Russell said. “It’s a way to get away from everything here.”
Russell, who is a native San Diegan, said it is a beautiful, self-contained estate on 41 acres. Built in 1996, the current owner completely updated the property, which includes two wells.
“With the current water concerns we have here and the price of water, it’s very efficient,” Russell said. “The house is elegantly done, not what you would normally expect to find in Julian.”
Russell said the home is a sanctuary for the current owner who once had many horses on the property. It’s only about 10 minutes from downtown Julian. The list price is $1.95 million.
The home has seven bedrooms, five baths and includes a guest house.
“The two-bedroom guest house is very sweet,” Russell said. “It’s nicely situated so that it’s private.”
There are two ways to get in and out of the property; it’s fully fenced with security gates.
“The fencing is super expensive,” she said. “It’s that very clean nice white fencing over the whole property.”
If when you think of a mountain getaway, you think of a lodge-style home with a huge fireplace and decks overlooking nothing but wide open spaces, then 34948 Birdsell Road is the place. James Stinnett, a Realtor with Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty, has the listing on the four-bedroom, two-bath home with 3,544 square feet built in the classic log home-style. It is in the gated community of Cuyamaca Forest Ranch, a 1000-acre retreat on north peak and is priced at $1.89 million.
“This property is a weekend getaway lodge home, very similar to what you would find if you were to go to Lake Tahoe,” Stinnett said. “You can see all the way north to the mountains and Palomar Observatory way off in the distance.”
Stinnett said there are riding trails on the 38-acre property in addition to being surrounded by many miles of riding trails outside of the home’s acreage. Downtown Julian is just five miles away. “It is situated right in the middle between Lake Cuyamaca and downtown Julian,” Stinnett said.
Stinnett, who has been in San Diego for 50 years, said you experience all four seasons in Julian, including snow.
“I’ve never yet driven up there that I haven’t seen the wildlife, deer, wild turkey throughout the property, tremendous amount of birds. It’s true mountain living,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times I have seen deer coming down to the spring-fed pond in the evening.”
This is the quintessential vision of luxury mountain living — Julian-style.
Send luxury real estate items to sglidden@sdbj.com.
